Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route

Scafell Pike by the Corridor Route is more than just a summit day, it’s something you’ll remember for decades to come. Starting from Seathwaite, it threads its way past Stockley Bridge and Styhead Tarn before turning into a far more adventurous hike, with rough ground, scrambles and that slow build towards the highest point in England.

Is this walk for you?

This is a good walk if you want Scafell Pike to feel like a mountain day rather than a queue to a cairn. It suits walkers comfortable on rough ground who fancy some adventure along the way, but it’s not the best choice if you’re after the simplest or most forgiving route to the summit.

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I take the Corridor Route to Scafell Pike and Great End

Climbing England’s highest mountain can be done a number of ways, but for me, the best is the Scafell Pike Corridor Route. It may have a gradual ascent, spread over four miles, but ascending Scafell Pike from Seathwaite comes with adventure, and dangers not to be taken lightly!

At 978m (3209ft), Scafell Pike is the highest peak in England. It’s part of three summits (with Broad Crag and Ill Crag) that were once collectively called the Pikes of Scawfell.

Located in the Southern Fells of the English Lake District, with Wasdale, Eskdale and Borrowdale radiating out from the range, the Pike is accessible from any of these valleys. Most adventurers would say that the best route is from Wasdale, but that’s another story. The Corridor Route offers adventure, but it also allows me, as a Mountain Leader, to talk local history, geology, flora, fauna and get to know my companions (and myself).

The mountain has something for most who like the outdoors. A day might start a lovely wander through a valley, passing over a bridge and a river with lunch at a Styhead Tarn, but scrambling and climbing is also on today’s agenda.

Scafell Pike from Seathwaite

Organising a couple of ‘Hike to the Pike’ events, I took a group, including a couple from London who had never ascended a mountain, up from Seathwaite for a birthday celebration. We celebrated Ness’ birthday on the summit with a cake and a bottle of bubbly. It was -7c on the top and blowing a gale.

On the other trip, I guided Mel and her son Nate along the Corridor Route, and on that day, after I lifted Nate above my head, this 9-year-old was the highest man in England.

We followed the same route both times because I think it the best way, for not too experienced hikers, to have a little adventure along the way.

The Scafell Pike Corridor Route

The Corridor Route from Seathwaite takes you on a four-mile hike to Scafell Pike. It’s not just a nicer route to England’s highest mountain, crossing Stockley Bridge and passing Styhead Tarn; it’s adventurous as well, with scrambles, fording rivers and climbing the summit cairn. The best of the Scafell Pike routes in my opinion.

Setting off, after parking up near Seathwaite Farm (they have a car park for a few quid, but there’s parking along the road), we walked through the farm and by the side of the River Derwent, deep into the valley.

When you cross Stockley Bridge, the path meanders up the hill to the right of Seathwaite Fell, sticking out like a tongue in the middle of the valley. Grains Gill to the other side leads up to Esk Hause.

The Mountain Rescue stretcher box at Sty Head

With the Styhead Gill on your right, until you cross it over a footbridge, the route is obvious until you reach Styhead Tarn and the famous Mountain Rescue Stretcher Box; this is where the navigation comes in.

The top of England from Styhead

You can see Scafell Pike at this point, straight ahead of you, Ling Mell, and Great Gable to the right; with Wasdale in between. To your left is the path up to Esk Hause, and following the panoramic round clockwise, there’s Great End, black and craggy. Great End leads along to Broad Crag and then Scafell Pike. On a clear day, you’ll make out the shelter cairn on the summit and a hundred hikers taking selfies.

Styhead Tarn by the way is my favourite Scafell Pike camping site, plenty of water, shelter from the wind and halfway there.

You then see Ling Mell over the head of Wasdale, with the steep ascent to Great Gable on your right.

From the Stretcher Box, we break away from the main Esk Hause path under the jagged side of Great End. The rocky track then hangs right, along the bottom of the range, ascending slowly. The section behind the Stretcher Box can be very boggy, stick to the path in Summer and especially Winter under the snow, I have been knee deep here before.

There’s a small climb at Skew Gill coming down off Great End, which gives good practice for what’s coming up later. You can lose the path here and have a steep bank to hike before meeting the path again, so stick to the track.

Great Gable

After a kilometre, we take the best photo of Great Gable across the very top of Wasdale. Stand Crag is the best vantage point, even though there is plenty of ascending to do.

Although Scafell Pike was gifted to the National Trust in 1919, in perpetual memory of the men of the Lake District who fell for God and King during the Great War, Great Gable is the fell that is most climbed on the 11th of November.Memorial Day brings hundreds of hikers to Great Gable’s summit to the well-known War Memorial, commemorating the members of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club.

The best photo you can take of Great Gable along this route, in my opinion, is from Stand Crag under Great End. You can see way down Wasdale Head and the surrounding fells supporting Great Gable’s grandeur are outstanding.

Scrambling up to the Broad Crag Col

The beck coming off Lambfoot Dub (on the Ordnance Survey map) has, over thousands of years, gradually created a deep gorge. We follow the smooth worn rock to a downward climb, technically a scramble. Fall and you could end up in the gorge as a recovery. Take it easy and make sure you have three points of contact all the time; we don’t just say this for fun. We clamber down, the fearless 9 year old included, turning sometimes to face the rock. It’s not a big climb, but it can be scary for the inexperienced.

I’ve taken children down (and back up) this scramble and people with no scrambling experience at all. Having a guide to give you advice that you can use on every day out you have, forever, can make a little climb like this seem easy. If you’re on your own, take your time and just be very careful. Just don’t curl up in a ball if fall over!

The ascent gets a little steeper from now on, and after another kilometre, you reach a fork. Straight ahead leads to the Ling Mell Col (between Ling Mell and Scafell Pike). The uphill left-hand fork takes us up to a scree scramble which will take us to the col between the Scafell Pike and Broad Crag; this is our route.

The big push to the top

There’s usually water coming down this gully, even on a hot summers day, so I think it best to take some in before the ascent. Once the boulders and scree devour the track, you start the long climb.

It’s very steep, and the shingle under your feet gives way all over, but if you stand right, leaning in towards the hill, you can’t fall far.

When you’re at the col, the climb is far from over. However, it’s an easier scramble from here with less scree and less hands. A path has been worn in-between the volcanic igneous rocks; these mountains are part of the Borrowdale Volcanics, the result of a group of volcanoes active 450 million years ago. It’s less than a kilometre to England’s highest boulder field, shattered by ice ages and weathering; and the large summit cairn that marks the top.

Scafell Pike summit – A mountain with no name

Scafell Pike had no name until a couple of hundred years ago, known only as the ‘Higher Top’ – as Scafell, from many angles, looks taller. Collectively, the group, including Broad Crag and Ill Crag were known as the Pikes of Scawfell. One hundred thousand hikers per year are said to summit the National Trust owned Scafell Pike.

When you take children up Scafell Pike, why not lift them higher than anyone else. I can’t imagine that Nate will ever forget that he was the highest man in England that day.

It’s said that the summit cairn on Scafell Pike was built in 1876 – the same year Alexander Graham Bell patented telephone technology and Queen Victoria became Empress of India – Thomas Edison had not yet made the light bulb famous!

Scafell Pike weather — Freezing temperatures on Scafell Pike

Exposed to the Western wind, the temperatures drop to -7c on the summit on this hot May day shown here on my Kestrel Anemometer. It’s essential to prepare for such a drop in temperature from the car. Wearing shorts in the car on the way through Borrowdale or Wasdale may be OK, but exposed legs up here are ill-advised.

Ness' birthday on Scafell Pike — Ness’ birthday on Scafell Pike

descending Scafell Pike via Ling Mell Col

After our celebrations and gazing at the surrounding panorama, we head north west, towards Ling Mell. Scrambling steep again, down to Ling Mell Col, we come to a well-worn path. You might turn left here for a pint in the Wasdale Head Inn. Our route leads us West now, round to Piers Gill. A massive gorge, carrying the watershed north into Wasdale between Ling Mell and Great Gable, Piers Gill is the scene of many tragedies. It’s easily crossed at a ford, and we’re soon back at the fork we broke away at earlier.

Our journey back to Seathwaite from here traces the same as on the ascent, but everything’s transformed. We’re facing the opposite way, and the sun is casting different shadows into the valley.

There are plenty of opportunities to pick up water along this route and run it through a filter. It’s much needed as well. Dehydration will slow you down dramatically on the descent.

Although fatigue is effecting our performance on the way down, as the leader, I need to consider other things as well. One day I have inexperienced city folk; another day, I have a 9-year-old part of the team.

Establishing authority early in the day is critical when leading a group on a mini-expedition. I don’t mean telling them who’s the boss. You need people to trust you so that when you talk about hydration and food, show them the best way to walk on boulders, offer a hand when crossing a ford or extra food when you see they’re struggling; they take it on.

Some people want to be exhausted at the end of their day, while children want an adventure that they’ll smile about dropping off to sleep. Getting it right is part of the art of being a good Mountain Leader.

Styhead Tarn Corridor Route — Scafell ‘Hike up the Pike’ gang at Styhead Tarn

The three kilometres walk from Styhead Tarn into Seathwaite can be a lovely one. The sun is hiding behind the Gables by this time, and most other hikers doing any variation of this route are also flowing down the valley.

When you’re facing the opposite way, stepping down rocks instead of up them, the sun’s behind you instead of in front, your route is very different. Returning the ‘same way’ you came can be very rewarding also.

Stockley Bridge at the top of Seathwaite

The Scafell Pike Corridor Route offers adventure and magnificent mountain scenery; my friends have experienced climbing and scrambling, learned a little about the geology and volcanoes, lots of local history along the route and spent some time away from their hectic lives. To me, Scafell Pike from Seathwaite offers an amazing all-round adventure. One that I also smile about dropping off to sleep at the end of the day.

Give it a go this summer! And, on big routes, another in my list of top hikes in the Lakes would be Helvellyn via Striding Edge. That’s where we’re going next.